From the Biblical ‘Shalom’ to the ‘Tranquility of Order’

Everyone wants peace. It is a universal longing, a cry that rises from every corner of the planet. Yet, despite our best efforts, peace often remains a distant horizon. The paths of politics, economics, and diplomacy are indispensable, but perhaps they are not enough. To find a truly lasting peace, we must first understand what it is.

The Biblical Vision of Peace: Shalom

The modern idea of peace is often negative: the absence of conflict or war. But the Bible’s vision, rooted in the Hebrew word Shalom, is profoundly positive and holistic. Shalom does not just mean a ceasefire; it means completeness, wholeness, soundness, welfare, and flourishing. It describes a reality where a person is in a state of harmonious and just relationship with God, with other people, and with all of creation. It is a blessing from God that encompasses prosperity, security, and delight. When the prophets speak of Shalom, they envision a world of “universal flourishing, wholeness and delight,” where natural needs are met and gifts are fruitfully used.

The Thomistic Structure of Peace: Tranquillitas Ordinis

This rich biblical vision was given a profound philosophical structure within the Christian tradition by thinkers like St. Thomas Aquinas. Building on the work of St. Augustine, Aquinas defined peace as tranquillitas ordinis—the tranquility of order.

At first glance, the biblical “Shalom” and the philosophical “tranquility of order” might seem different—one relational and covenantal, the other metaphysical and structural. But they are two sides of the same coin.

The textbook Theology and Historical Reality clarifies that this peace is not a static void but a positive reality: “the tranquility of a rightly ordered community”. This “rightly ordered” state is precisely the social condition that allows for the “wholeness” and “right relationship” of Shalom to be realized. The “completeness” of Shalom is achieved when, as Aquinas would argue, all parts of a person and a society are in their proper place, guided by a law founded on reason and directed toward the common good.

Crucially, this peace is not merely an external, political arrangement. It is described in the textbook as an “internal effect of charity”. It is the fruit of love, which brings order first to the human heart and then radiates outward into our families, communities, and nations.

The Modern Challenge to Peace: Disordered Ideopraxis

If peace is a rightly ordered harmony, then conflict is the result of disorder. The textbook argues that our modern world is often animated by a disordered “soul,” which it calls ideopraxis: ideology made into concrete action. When this “ideopraxis” is rooted in materialism and denies our transcendent destiny, it inevitably leads to the “instrumentalization of the person and the degradation of creation,” making true Shalom impossible.

The Path Forward: Building a Civilization of Love

The Christian response is to actively build a society with a different soul. This requires a “Christic ideopraxis”—making the principles of the Gospel and the Social Doctrine of the Church the guiding force in our actions. This is the foundation for what Pope St. Paul VI called the “Civilization of Love and Peace”.

This is not a passive hope but an active vocation. The textbook reminds us that we are invited by God to be “protagonists” and “co-workers with God,” participating in His divine governance to shape a world that reflects His rightly ordered peace.

In this great work, even technology like Artificial Intelligence can be a powerful tool. Harnessed by a Christic ideopraxis, it “becomes a providential tool of immense potential for building the Civilization of Love,” helping us create the just and sustainable conditions where the tranquility of order—and the wholeness of Shalom—can finally flourish.